British Soldier Says ISIS A Bunch Of Disorganised Office Workers, High On Drugs, Terrified ~ THE 5TH ESTATE ASIA

Sunday, March 01, 2015

British Soldier Says ISIS A Bunch Of Disorganised Office Workers, High On Drugs, Terrified

Sunday, March 01, 2015

An on the ground assessment from a military professional

DAILY MAIL
By Julian Robinson
02/28/2015

A British soldier who left to fight alongside Kurdish militants has described ISIS as little more than 'office workers and villagers' who are high on drugs because they are so terrified.

Jamie Read

Jamie Read from Lanarkshire, Scotland, served in the British Army for four years before travelling to Syria in 2014 to join the battle against Islamic State extremists.

Having returned home he has revealed he would be prepared to rejoin the fight - despite the fact that he and his family have been targeted by militants.

The 25-year-old said: 'All the stuff about IS being organised is not what I saw, they seem like office workers and villagers who were simply pointed in the right direction and told to get on with it.'

Before travelling to Syria, Mr Read was given training by Thor Tactical, a Czech private security agency offering self-defence courses, weapons classes and training in tactical fighting.

They organised a recent meeting where he spoke about his experiences and his motivation for entering the war torn country.

He said: 'I just could not look at this injustice. It was necessary to do something.'

He had travelled to Syria using his own money after making contact with Kurdish People's Protection Units, the YPG, using a link he found on the internet.

He had then been contacted via Facebook and eventually had a Skype interview a few days before he flew to Iraq, where he underwent a further personal interview and his details were checked.

He said: 'They wanted to make sure I didn't have any connection to the Islamic State.

After that I got my equipment, and was sent to the front line.'

Suggestions that IS are a well-organised and disciplined unit were not true, he claimed, adding: 'They are ordinary civilians from various places involved in the conflicts who have to fight.

'They do not have a choice, and they don't have have any information, or even any clear leadership. Many of them are heavily involved in taking drugs they are so terrified.'

Happy campers of the ISIS "Garbage Truck Brigade"

Mr Read fought with Kurdish Pashmerga, the military forces that fight in Syria, Iraq and Turkey.

But he revealed that the forces he joined were not particularly disciplined either.

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He said: 'There is no planning. They say "let's go this way" and they go that way and they fight. But they are not afraid of IS, they are defending their families and their homes.'

He added: 'I tried to pass on to them some of the basics of military tactics, but they were not interested, because it was in conflict with their ideology.'

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Many people spoke English, he said, and he also learned some Kurdish words. He had even been given a Kurdish name by his fellow soldiers.

'The logistics left something to be desired - they would eat rice on the frontline and there were not even enough bowls to go round, so seven people would be eating out of the same bowl, and if one was sick, they would all be sick.'

He said that although he had left the frontline to return to the UK, he was now worried about his life and that of his family after 'fanatics started to blackmail me and my family'.

'There was a reward of £250,000 for my death,' he said.

'Of course, there is a big danger that the Islamic State will target us, I am now a public figure in the war against them, and a hit against me would be probably something they try to use in their PR.

'After the Paris attacks I had police guards around my house. Police were sure that it was my turn next. I guess that was a bit of an eye-opener but I'm sure it will work out well in the end.'

Mr Read has a girlfriend and a son in the UK but said he was still prepared to return to Syria.

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